GUEST COLUMN: A place to start tackling FWB's homeless issue

Among the issues Fort Walton Beach city councilmen are expected to take up at their Feb. 11 meeting are the proposed ordinance to require local churches to qualify for permits before opening as cold night shelters and a proposal to hire a consultant who specializes in solving vagrancy issues.

Daily News file photo

By Ted Corcoran

Published: Friday, August 8, 2014 at 04:42 PM.

For our community to address the homeless issue, we must have a place to start. Fort Walton Beach’s former wastewater site is The Start. We hope and pray that city leaders concur and can commit a long-forgotten piece of land to serve this important purpose.

Once leased, the first phase will be consolidation of the current cold-night church shelters to this facility. Initially, the facility will be used only for this purpose.
Next we plan to consolidate the weekly meals service.

After that. a community resource center will be established. Service providers have worked to design a facility that includes offices for them as well as lockers, showers, food pantries and many of the services needed to help folks get back on their feet — all under one roof.

Does this approach have church support? Our faith-based friends have long worked to feed, clothe and house the homeless. Our community has been blessed with loving volunteers manning the cold-night shelters. But the cold-night shelters were always meant to be a temporary fix. The wear, tear and expense on church facilities and volunteers have taken a toll. Thus, many of the churches will still provide the volunteers and the food — but at the community resource center.

Who will go there? According to the 2014 Point in Time annual count, there were 904 homeless people (those lacking fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residences) in Okaloosa County. That’s probably a conservative figure. Sadly, 414 homeless students were identified by the Okaloosa County School District for the 2013-14 school year, and 48 percent of all students in kindergarten through 12th grade in our county are on free or reduced-cost meals. These are the families we are trying to assist. These people need a community resource center.

Location: For five years we have researched every corner of southern Okaloosa County to find the best place for this center, since there is no perfect place. We needed two-plus acres where the facility could be set up without a huge capital outlay. We looked at places on Ready Avenue, Lovejoy Road and elsewhere. The North Beal location is the only place available that fits most of the criteria. If this doesn’t work, we have no other choices.

Transportation: How will people get there? We will work with Okaloosa County Transit and local cab companies to devise a workable plan. Some churches have volunteered their vans. Sarah Yelverton of Opportunity Place reports that some clients have cars or will be dropped off by others. We are a committed community. We will work through this issue.

The North Beal Extension community: I recently met a resident of North Beal Extension who has lived there for more than 30 years. He shared the concerns of many in the northern part of the city who feel at times forgotten. Their issues include poor drainage, garbage dumping, lack of streetlights and a lack of law enforcement presence. He worries that this might not be the best environment for such a facility.

However, through this effort, we believe that many of his concerns will be addressed, since issues such as safety and lighting will be important to the success of a community resource center.

Our community is full of caring people who want to enhance others’ lives. Unselfishly, they work to improve things for kids, military neighbors and others. Hopefully, our community will extend that giving spirit to help those temporarily down on their luck.

we work together, this facility can be a win-win for North Beal businesses, residents and our entire community. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if an “overlooked” North Beal community could join hands with another forgotten community of veterans or families with kids who just need a little help from their Fort Walton Beach neighbors?

No free lunch: Yes, meals and services will be offered, but these are just the first steps in transforming people’s lives. As their physical and emotional needs are met, they will learn to be self-sufficient. We’re offering a hand up, not a handout. CareerSource will have an office on site and training in various trades will be offered. We envision creating service businesses that could train and employ those served.
Will this facility eliminate the panhandlers on our street corners? Initially, no. By consolidating services and moving them to our community resource center, it will be much more difficult for the chronically homeless to get free services.

Thus, they will have to abide by the resource center’s rules or they simply won’t be offered any services.

Ted Corcoran is president/CEO of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. This column was written on behalf of the Community Solutions of the Emerald Coast Board of Directors.

HAPPENING TUESDAY

Community Solutions, formed under the umbrella of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, will propose its idea to the City Council on Aug. 12. at 6 p.m. at 107 Miracle Strip Parkway.

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For our community to address the homeless issue, we must have a place to start. Fort Walton Beach’s former wastewater site is The Start. We hope and pray that city leaders concur and can commit a long-forgotten piece of land to serve this important purpose.

Once leased, the first phase will be consolidation of the current cold-night church shelters to this facility. Initially, the facility will be used only for this purpose.
Next we plan to consolidate the weekly meals service.

After that. a community resource center will be established. Service providers have worked to design a facility that includes offices for them as well as lockers, showers, food pantries and many of the services needed to help folks get back on their feet — all under one roof.

Does this approach have church support? Our faith-based friends have long worked to feed, clothe and house the homeless. Our community has been blessed with loving volunteers manning the cold-night shelters. But the cold-night shelters were always meant to be a temporary fix. The wear, tear and expense on church facilities and volunteers have taken a toll. Thus, many of the churches will still provide the volunteers and the food — but at the community resource center.

Who will go there? According to the 2014 Point in Time annual count, there were 904 homeless people (those lacking fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residences) in Okaloosa County. That’s probably a conservative figure. Sadly, 414 homeless students were identified by the Okaloosa County School District for the 2013-14 school year, and 48 percent of all students in kindergarten through 12th grade in our county are on free or reduced-cost meals. These are the families we are trying to assist. These people need a community resource center.

Location: For five years we have researched every corner of southern Okaloosa County to find the best place for this center, since there is no perfect place. We needed two-plus acres where the facility could be set up without a huge capital outlay. We looked at places on Ready Avenue, Lovejoy Road and elsewhere. The North Beal location is the only place available that fits most of the criteria. If this doesn’t work, we have no other choices.

Transportation: How will people get there? We will work with Okaloosa County Transit and local cab companies to devise a workable plan. Some churches have volunteered their vans. Sarah Yelverton of Opportunity Place reports that some clients have cars or will be dropped off by others. We are a committed community. We will work through this issue.

The North Beal Extension community: I recently met a resident of North Beal Extension who has lived there for more than 30 years. He shared the concerns of many in the northern part of the city who feel at times forgotten. Their issues include poor drainage, garbage dumping, lack of streetlights and a lack of law enforcement presence. He worries that this might not be the best environment for such a facility.

However, through this effort, we believe that many of his concerns will be addressed, since issues such as safety and lighting will be important to the success of a community resource center.

Our community is full of caring people who want to enhance others’ lives. Unselfishly, they work to improve things for kids, military neighbors and others. Hopefully, our community will extend that giving spirit to help those temporarily down on their luck.

we work together, this facility can be a win-win for North Beal businesses, residents and our entire community. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if an “overlooked” North Beal community could join hands with another forgotten community of veterans or families with kids who just need a little help from their Fort Walton Beach neighbors?

No free lunch: Yes, meals and services will be offered, but these are just the first steps in transforming people’s lives. As their physical and emotional needs are met, they will learn to be self-sufficient. We’re offering a hand up, not a handout. CareerSource will have an office on site and training in various trades will be offered. We envision creating service businesses that could train and employ those served.
Will this facility eliminate the panhandlers on our street corners? Initially, no. By consolidating services and moving them to our community resource center, it will be much more difficult for the chronically homeless to get free services.

Thus, they will have to abide by the resource center’s rules or they simply won’t be offered any services.

Ted Corcoran is president/CEO of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce. This column was written on behalf of the Community Solutions of the Emerald Coast Board of Directors.

HAPPENING TUESDAY

Community Solutions, formed under the umbrella of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, will propose its idea to the City Council on Aug. 12. at 6 p.m. at 107 Miracle Strip Parkway.